Original research

The Exam Problem: Why Board Appeals for the Top 10 Disabilities Get Remanded

For the ten most common service-connected disabilities, a large share of Board appeals are not granted or denied, they are REMANDED, sent back for more development, most often because the Board wants a new C&P examination or medical opinion before it can rule. Here is how often, and what the Board says was missing.

How this research is built: remand SHARE below refreshes weekly from the live published record. The reason breakdown (why the Board ordered a remand, and what defect it named when it ruled an exam or opinion inadequate) comes from a full-text classification of the Board's own language across the corpus, rebuilt periodically as the classifier improves, most recently September 2026 (remand reasons) and September 2026 (exam adequacy).

Updated September 2026

Remand share, top reason, and top exam defect, by condition

Remand share is remanded issues divided by all issues decided for that condition. The reason and defect columns show the single most common tag among tagged remands and ruled-inadequate decisions, respectively:

#	Condition	Remand share	Top reason for remand	Top exam defect
#1	Tinnitus DC 6260	23.1%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (74.7%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (29.2%)
#2	Limitation of flexion, knee DC 5260	40.5%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (88.6%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (24.9%)
#3	Paralysis of the sciatic nerve DC 8520	41.4%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (81.3%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (25.3%)
#4	Lumbosacral or cervical strain DC 5237	65.7%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (78.7%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (27.7%)
#5	Posttraumatic stress disorder DC 9411	37.7%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (67.1%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (22.7%)
#6	Hearing loss DC 6100	31.7%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (73.9%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (25.2%)
#7	Limitation of motion of the arm DC 5201	45.3%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (91.7%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (27%)
#8	Scars, burns (2nd degree) DC 7805	30.1%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (70.9%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (23.5%)
#9	Migraine DC 8100	39.9%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (83.9%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (30.2%)
#10	Limitation of motion of the ankle DC 5271	35.8%	Medical opinion or addendum ordered (93.5%)	Failed to address a contention or part of the condition (28.5%)

Reading this: Lumbosacral or cervical strain remands most often (65.7% of issues). A remand is not a loss, it means the Board needs more evidence before it can decide, but it also means months or years of additional wait. These describe patterns in published decisions, not a prediction for any individual appeal.

A closer look at the three highest-remand conditions

Lumbosacral or cervical strain DC 5237 · 65.7% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 31,828 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered78.7%

New VA examination ordered69.4%

VA treatment records to obtain18%

Private treatment records to obtain17.4%

Service records to obtain12.6%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 25,751 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition27.7%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale21.2%

Veteran's lay statements not considered19.5%

Limitation of motion of the arm DC 5201 · 45.3% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 4,923 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered91.7%

New VA examination ordered75.5%

VA treatment records to obtain22%

Private treatment records to obtain19.8%

Service records to obtain19.5%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 4,291 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition27%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale20.3%

Veteran's lay statements not considered19%

Paralysis of the sciatic nerve DC 8520 · 41.4% remanded

Why the Board remanded (of 17,773 tagged remands)

Medical opinion or addendum ordered81.3%

New VA examination ordered65.7%

VA treatment records to obtain22%

Private treatment records to obtain18.9%

Service records to obtain13.5%

When ruled inadequate, the defect named (of 8,196 decisions)

Failed to address a contention or part of the condition25.3%

Conclusion given without a supporting rationale19.2%

Veteran's lay statements not considered15.5%

Methodology

Remand share is issue-level: remanded issues divided by all issues decided for that condition, refreshed weekly. Remand-reason tags (new exam, medical opinion, records to obtain, etc.) are mined from the Board's remand-instruction language and are multi-tag, so a single remand's reasons can sum to more than 100%; requires at least 25 tagged remands per condition. Exam-inadequacy defects are mined from sentences where the Board itself, not a party's argument, rules an examination or opinion inadequate, classified into the reason named; requires at least 20 ruled decisions per condition. Both classifiers are rebuilt periodically as the underlying corpus and classification improve, not on the weekly cycle the remand-share numbers use.

Cite this research

RateMyVSO. (September 2026). The Exam Problem: Remand Rates and Reasons for the Ten Most Common Service-Connected Disabilities at the Board of Veterans' Appeals. https://ratemyvso.net/dc/exam-problem-report

Free to cite and link with attribution. Figures derived from published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions.

Educational and encyclopedic only, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any individual appeal. For help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.